This is a straightforward side that hits most marks for a Charlotte kitchen: asparagus, lemon, olive oil, and black pepper are routine finds at any major chain, and Pecorino Romano shows up reliably at Harris Teeter and Food Lion. The real cost driver is asparagus itself—fresh spears run three to five dollars a pound depending on season, so a dish for eleven will push toward thirty dollars for the produce alone, making the per-serving cost higher than a casual weeknight side warrants. The twenty-minute stated time is honest if asparagus is already trimmed and water is boiling when you start, but the recipe glosses over washing and snapping the woody ends, which adds five to eight minutes in practice. The format works well for a dinner party or larger family gathering, though eleven servings suggests this is meant to feed a crowd rather than a typical household, and the dish does not reheat gracefully—reheated asparagus turns mushy and loses its bright character.